December 30, 2013

Yelp Signs Up to Lobby

Yelp Inc. has joined the Washington lobbying community, registering its first lobbyist with Congress.

The business review website has deployed its public policy official, Laurent Crenshaw, to advocate on intellectual property and telecommunications issues, among other matters, according to lobbying registration paperwork filed with Congress last week.

Yelp notes in the filing that it's particularly interested in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act; Communications Decency Act provisions that shield websites from liability for content their users post online; pending patent lawsuit reform legislation; and the possible introduction of federal legislation to block strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) that are designed to quiet critics through the threat of costly litigation.

Crenshaw said he worked on many of the same issues for House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) He was Issa's legislative director before he joined the San Francisco company in November to serve as its first lobbyist in D.C.

"From a policy standpoint, it has been a very smooth transition," he said.